Fountain pen



NOV. 5, 1968 R, LONGARZO 3,409,380

FOUNTAIN PEN Filed June 23, 196

I NV EN TOR. ROLAND LONGARZO ciiwwd /Qq A TTORNEX United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to writing pens, and more particularly to thoseof the ballpoint construction, in .which there is a retractable ink cartridge with a ball point at one end. It is the purpose of the present invention to provide indicating means through an opening in the barrel of the pento indicate when the cartridge is retracted with the writing point inside the barrel.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means by which the writing means, comprising the ink cartridge and the ball point of the pen, is advanced and retracted in a novel manner providing for more positive control of the positioning of the writing means; also for providing a .signal or indicator showing the position of the writing means; also providing means to operate the retraction of the writing means automatically when the pen is placed and clipped into a pocket of the user, if the mechanism has not already been retracted; and also to provide stop means to prevent the means of the invention from being dislodged from the barrel of the pen during the operation of the device.

The objects of the invention are achieved by providing a pen barrel having an opening to receive a hook or catch means of the operating device of the pen which are associated with. follower closure means so that when the writing means is in the forward or extended position, the catch means Will enter the opening in the barrel and hold the mechanism in advance position against the action of a spring. When it is desired to place the pen in retracted position, these catch means are pressed through the opening and the spring forces the writing means to retracted position, being stopped by an appropriate stop of the mechanism, with the follower closure means being placed alongside directly underneath the opening in the wall of the barrel.

The mentioned catch means may be positioned close to the clip of the fountain pen so that when the pen is to beplaced in the users pocket, the catch means will be contacted by the edge of the pocket, to be pushed in, thereby retracting the point. This acts as a safety feature to provide for the point to be retracted while in the pocket of the user.

It is thus a principal feature of the invention that the opening in the wall of the barrel to receive the catch means for holding the pen in forward position will also serve as a part of the indicator means to show that the pen is in retracted position by reasori of the fact that the follower will be seen through the same opening when the pen is in retracted condition. The follower closure may be of a contrasting material or color to' enhance its function.

Further detailsof the operation and advantages of the invention will appear in the specification hereinbelow. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective with parts in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view;

FIG. 3 is a medial cross section of a portion of the device with the working parts in a first position;

3,409,380 Iatented Nov. 5, 1968 FIG. 4 is a medial cross section similar to FIG. '3 with the working parts in second position;

FIG. 5 is a view of the invention similar to FIG. 3, with some parts cut away, showing an alternate form of arrangement of the invention by placing .the tip of the clip closer to the opening in the barrel; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the lines 6-6 in FIG. 2.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Fountain pens, and in particular, ball point pens, are usually provided with a two part body or barrel having a first end through which the ball point or writing means may be advanced and retracted, and a second end near which a clipfor retaining the pen inthe pocket of the user is usually mounted. In FIG. 1 of the drawings, the first end of the barrel is indicated at reference numeral 10, and is located in the bottom portion 12 of barrel 14. The second end designated by reference numeral 16 is located in the upper ortop portion 18 of barrel 14. The barrel may be made of plastic material or it may be made of metal or any other suitable material. The top and bottom portions of the barrel are usually detachably coupled together by external screw threads 20 in the top of barrel 18 which are matched to internal threads in the bottom barrel 12 with indicated location at reference numeral 22. This part of the construction is fairly standard and is mentioned only for a complete understanding of the invention. There is also a usual type of ink cartridge 24 which contains a ball point 26 comprising the writing means of the invention. The writing means comprising the cartridge 24 and the ball point are axially slideable within barrel 14, and it is normally urged toward the second end 16 of barrel 14 by means of a coil spring 28 surrounding its forward end which is seated on a portion 30 of barrel 14 and on a portion 32 of the cartridge 24.

The method of construction and manner of the operation of the spring and the emergence of the writing means through tip opening 27 at the first end of barrel 14 are well known and need not be further explained or illustrated herein.

Referring now to the drawings, the mechanism for extension and retraction of the writing means 25, comprising ink cartridge 24 and ball point 26, is shown in detail in the exploded perspective view, FIG. 1 of the drawings. In addition to the proportions of the usual operating mechanism well known'in the art comprising spring 28, there is an opening 36 in the wall means of the barrel 14, one edge of which is a first catch stop means 38 adapted to act as a stop for a first catch means 40 on a first spring arm 42. The rim 44 of inner end of barrel top 18 acts as a second catch stop means for second catch means 46 of second spring arm 48. In the event that a pen barrel is made of one piece rather than two pieces, the second catch stop means as exemplified by rim 44 could be in the form of any annular shoulder within the barrel, or any other type of catch stop means mounted within the barrel, such as a hole punched into the barrel, suitable for the purpose.

Spring arms 42 and 48 may be made of a flat piece of spring steel bent at the upper end 50. The bend made at reference numeral 50 is adapted to be pushed into an opening 52 of plunger pusher 54. A closure means 56, adapted to slide fit alongside closure 36 to effect a closure of same, is incorporated as a face portion of plug means 58 which has a recessed area 60 adapted to receive the cartridge 24 and its end 70. Plug means 58 has a neck 64 adapted to fit between upper converging ends of arms 42 and 48 so that the plunger means together with spring arms 42 and 48 and closure means 56 may be held together for unitary movement within the device. The

plunger rneans 75 as thus assembled is shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

In order to facilitate the 's'pringy action of spring arm 42 as, well as its positioning within the device, a further bend 66 is provided'It will be noted that the unitary plunger means 75 including spring arms 42 and 48 and closure means 56 is provided with closure 56 and first catch means' 40 in substantial axial alignment, and that movement of plunger means 75 will move both element 40 and element 56, together.

Reference to FIG. 3 of the drawings shows the mechanism of the plunger means 75 and its associated parts installed in the upper portion 18 of a pen barrel in its first position which will correspond to extended position of the writingmea'ns 25. In FIG. 4 of the drawings, the same construction is shown in its second position which corresponds to the retracted position of the writing means 25 of the pen.-

These elements are assembled by sliding plunger means 75, together with itsassociated parts including spring arm 48, through open end 16 of barrel 14 until catch means 46 protrudes from 'rim 44 at inner end of barrel top 18, as shown inFIG. 3 of the drawings. In so doing, catch 40 will advance to opening 36 and action of spring arm 42 will force it into opening 36 thereby limiting further movement in either axial direction. Furtherreference to FIG. '3 will show catch 40 against catch stop means 38. There must be some means to maintain catch 40 in alignment with opening 38 during this initial insertion operation as well as during the entire operation of the device thereafter. The plunger means 75 is provided with a keying means such as a squaring off of plunger pusher 5-1 .1: s ee 54 to fit within a squared cross-section at the upper end I 16 of barrel 14. While I prefer to use a square section keying means, any other type of keying means may be used which will maintain plunger means 75 and its associated parts in axially sliding non-rotatable relation to barrel 14.

In order to insure that the plunger means 75 and its associated parts will maintain proper axial alignment, upper end of the steel spring also has keying means with relation to opening 52 of plunger pusher 54. These keying means are fiats or corners 53 provided inside opening 52 to keep the flat spring construction axially aligned within plunger pusher 54.

The assembly of the pen is completed by placing the writing means comprising ink cartridge 24 and ball point 26 within lower end 12 of barrel 14 together with spring 28.v Inner end 70 of ink cartridge 24 will protrude somewhat. Then rim 44 of assembled upper end 18 is placed around writing means end 70 and pushed toward tip 10, and then both ends 12 and 18 of barrel 14 are screwed together at threaded portions 20 and 22, placing writing means end 70 and shoulder 72 of plug 58 in abutted engagement. Thus, the tube of writing means 24 will fit within recess alongside spring arm 48 and abut plug 58 which is a part of plunger pusher 54 having been attached to it by means of neck 64 into opening 52. Thus, action of helical expansion spring 28 against spring seat 30 in barrel 12 and against spring seat 32 of ink cartridge 24 forces end against abutment means or shoulder 72 forcing plunger pusher 54 in the direction of upper end 16 of barrel 14 to be stopped by action of first catch'means 40 against catch stop means 38. This maintains the pen and its mechanism in first position with ball point 26 extended from tip opening 27. Finger pressure pushing catch 40 inwardly will release it from catch stop 38. Spring 28 will force plunger pusher 54 and associated parts further upwardly toward barrel end 16 until second catch means 46 catches on catch stop means such as rim 44 to maintain the mechanism statically in second position as shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings. Since closure element 56 travels together with catch 40, as catch 40 moves upwardly, so does closure element 56 until, when the mechanism is in second position, closure element 56 lies alongside and underneath opening 36 so as to close same. When plunger pusher 54 is pressed at its end 76 in the direction of arrow as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the entire mechanism is pushed toward tip end 10 of barrel 14. Closure means 56 is then displaced axially away from opening 38 and first catch means 40 again approaches opening 38 until action of spring arm 42 forces catch means 40 into opening 36 where expansion action of spring 28 forces it upwardly against first catch stop means 38, placing the mechanism in first or extended position. The mechanism may always be placed in first or extended position by pressing plunger pusher 54 inwardly to the barrel, and may always be moved to second or retracted position by releasing catch 40 from catch stop 38. Whenever the mechanism is in retracted or second position, opening 36 will be closed by sliding closure means 56 which will present its surface to view through opening 36. A clip 80 may also be provided to maintain the pen in the pocket of the user in the usual manner.

It is desirable to have clip 80 on the same side of the pen as opening 36 since this will act as a safety feature in the following manner. As the user places the pen in his pocket, both clip 80 and opening 36 will face the leading edge of the wall of the pocket. (This is illustrated in FIG. 3 of the drawing in which the arrow represents the leading edge of the wall of the pocket.) The pressure necessary to clip the pen in the pocket will release first mentioned catch 40 in the same manner as it could be released by finger pressure, thereby causing the mechanism to move to second or retracted position. This arrangement will work very well where the pocket of the user is a coat or jacket pocket and the material of which the pocket is made is a heavy material.

Where the user is about to place the pen in a shirt pocket, however, the material may be too thin in some instances to release first mentioned catch 40. I 'have, therefore, provided an alternate form of the invention as shown in FLIG- 5. -In the form of invention shown in FIG. 5, tip 81 of clip 80 is positioned as close as possible to catch stop 38 as it may be without interfering with the operation of first catch means 40. By moving tip 81 as close as possible I have made a construction which will block placing the clip over a thin piece of material such as a shirt pocket as-the material may not be strong enough to push through both catch 40 and the spring held tip 81 of clip 80. It will then be necessary to manually push catch 40 in and remove it from being an obstruction to place the clip over the shirt pocket. The same result is achieved by this construction, namely, insuring to the user that the pen point will be retracted when the pen is placed in his pocket.

- Closure means 56 also acts as an indicator to show at immediate glance whether the pen is in extended or retracted position. This is so because it would be obvious to the informed user that when the closure means is not visible through opening 38, the pen would be in extended position and vice versa. Catch 40 may be made so that there is a fiat surface 82 associated therewith which will fit neatly within opening 36, and there may also be an ancillary catch 84 to engage edge 86 opposite to edge 38 to maintain catch 40 and its associated elements in substantially non-movable position within the opening 38.

Both the surface of closure means 56 and the mentioned surface 82 may be ornamented or colored in contrasting colorsto the pen barrel and to themselves to further enhance the visual signal indication of the positioning of the mechanism of the pen to determine whether it is in extended or retracted position.

While I have described my invention in its preferred form, there are other forms which it may take without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is desired that protection be afforded for all forms of the invention which may be covered by the claims hereinbelow.

Wherefore I claim: I

1. A fountain pen construction including a barrel comprising wall means, retractable writing means mounted for axial movement with relation to the longitudinal axis of the said barrel, plunger means positioned at least partially within the barrel, and spring means seated against the barrel and the writing means to normally urge the writing means toward the said plunger means: said barrel having opening means including a first spring arm catch stop means in said wall means, and said barrel including a second spring arm catch stop means within said barrel; said plunger means being adapted for axial sliding movement with relation to the barrel and comprising a first spring arm including catch means in axial alignment with said first spring arm catch stop means, together with closure means for said opening means in axial alignment with said first spring arm catch means, abutment means to abut said writing means, and a second spring arm having catch means with said second spring arm catch means being in axial alignment with said second spring arm catch stop means; said plunger means being positioned in abutment with a portion of said writing means; said plunger means being restricted to a limited sliding movement between a first position and a second position with relation to said barrel, selectively limited by co-action of said first mentioned spring arm catch means associated with said opening means in the said barrel and by said second mentioned spring arm catch stop means, with at least a portion of said closure means being positioned in axial alignment whereby when said plunger means abutting said writing means are pushed to said first position against action of said spring means, said first mentioned spring arm catch means will catch first mentioned catch stop means associated with said opening means and said closure means will be axially displaced away from said opening means, and when said first mentioned spring arm catch means is operatively released, said spring means will force said writin means and plunger means to retract said writing means until said second spring arm catch means engages said second spring arm catch stop means thereby moving said closure means axially on said plunger means to a position alongside said opening means to close same.

2. The fountain pen construction as defined in claim 1, in which the catch means on the first mentioned spring arm has a pair of catches with a flat surface between them, said fiat surface being offset from said spring arm and adapted to fit through said opening in said barrel and extend laterally therefrom, said flat surface being of the same shape of said opening but relatively smaller in size so as to fit through said opening.

3. The fountain pen construction as defined in claim 2, in which said flat surface is of a contrasting color to the color of said barrel.

4. The fountain pen construction as defined in claim 2, in which said closure means are of a contrasting color to the color of the said barrel.

5. The fountain pen construction as defined in claim 1, in which said plunger means has keying means to maintain it in slideable non-rotating position within the barrel.

6. The fountain pen construction as defined in claim 1, which includes a clip mounted on the barrel axially aligned with said opening means in said barrel.

7. The fountain pen construction as defined in claim 6, in which the tip of said clip is in close proximity to said opening means in said barrel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,715,888 8/ 1955 Liguori 401105 2,722,914 11/1955 Aversa 401-105 2,928,373 3/1960 Esterow 40l105 FOREIGN PATENTS 588,639 2/1959 Italy. 400,826 10/ 1965 Switzerland.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

